Secondary battery.



No. 827,861. PATENTED AUG. 7,-1906. W. GARDINIEIL' SECONDARY BATTERY.APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. 1904.

s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTYED AUG. 7, 1906.

W. GARDINBR.

SECONDARY BATTERY. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. 1904.

3 SHEETS SHEET 3.

0 Q 0000'00%' oooooo'b @0000000; 000000 ooooooolQ 0000000 UNITED sTArEsPATENT. OFFICE.

WILLIAM GARDINER, E CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO UNIVERSAL ELECTRIC STORAGE BATTERY ooM- PANY, A CORPORATION or DELWARE. p

SECONDARY BATTERY.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it. known that 1, WILLIAM GARDINER, a

, citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago,in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Secondary Batteries; and I do hereby declarethat the followin is a full, clear, and exact description of t e same,reference being had to the acoompanyin drawings, and to the letters ofreference mar ed thereon, which form a part The object of this inventionis to provide a secondary cell of li ht weight and high efiiciency andin whic material and structure admit of use indefinitely without inj yor thenecessity of reconstruction of the ce 1 or replenishment of theelements or the electrolyte contained therein.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and morefully pointed out and defined in theappended claims.

In the drawings, Fi e 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a ce embodyingm invention. Fig. 2 is a fra entary top p an view of the positive-pole eement therein. Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 3 of Fi 4 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 2, but i% a slightly-modified construction of thepositive-pole element. Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5 5 of 4. Fig.6 is a plan view and a vertical section of one of the washers adapted tosecure the positive-pole element and its conductor in place. I Fig. 7presents a similar view of one of the insulating-washers used insecuring the positive-pole element and its conductor in place. Fig. 8illustrates a view of the other-of said washers. As shown in saiddrawings, the batte cell or jar is constructed of sheet metal, sue ascopper, tho h other suitable material may be used, an as shown, isrectangular in form and comparatively shallow in depth.

Specification-of Letters Patent. Application filed September as, 1904.Serial m. 226.568.

rial or materi s to become active 1. F 'ends of the element, andintermediate s lustrating IPatented Aug. 7, 1906. V

Extending across and covering the bottom a of the cell A are one or morelayers of conductin material adapted to receive the deposit o and toconstitute a part of a negativepole element. Said conduct' material, asshown,.comprises one or more s eets of wirenet 0, a", usually copper,cut to fit closely 1n the bottom of said ce or jar and upon which at thesides and'ends of 'thecell rest sepavulcan'ite or other suitablenon-conducting material and afiord a continuous raised support, theinner face of which is rabbeted to aflford an inwardly-projecting ledgeor shoulder 1), upon .which the positive-pole element (indicated asawhole by C) rests and is thereby spaced and insulated from the side andend walls of the receptacle or cell and is suprator-strips B. Saidseparator-strips are of ported above the bottom a distance sufficient toafford considerable space between the under side of the ositive-poleelement and said wire-net. Said braces an upper and lowerclosely-perforated sheet of metal 0 csuch as silver, nickel,

positive pole element em-.

plated copper, or other metalnot readily acted upon by the electrolyteused and whic fit upon the Upon the lower plate 0 is laid a sheet oflinen c or other porous fabric adapted toermlt access to the electrolytetherethroug but preventing any articles of the active matefalhng throughsaid perforations into the bottom of the cell. Said upper 'and lowersheet of metal 0 e are spaced a uniform distance apart by'spacebars cand c at the sides and acebars 0 are arranged parallel with sai sidespace-bars c and extend longitudinally of the plate. On each side ofsaid element corresponding in position with the end and s de space-barsc c are reinforcing or binding strips 0, through which and said sheetsan the space-bars extend rivets c", which rigidl secure the structurethus formed together.

filled with a material to become active consistin of a mass of spongemetal, the character 0 which of course varies w th the characshouldersI) of the separator.

, which are inserted in place as the tablets are ter of the electrolyteused. In the present instance the material to become active consists ofan amalgam formed of a mixture of spongenickel and silver and mercurywhich is comressed into a firm tablet D, which entirely ls the spacesbetween said space-bars. If preferred, the tablets D may be dividedtransversely by intermediate spacing-bars c,

placed in the element. A conductor E is rigldly secured to said elementand extends upwardly therefrom through the cover-plate A. Said conductoris provided with a shoulder at a point below the cover-plate, u on whichrests a relatively large washer (1 an n on which is secured an insulatinwasher. provided with a' central hub 5 which extends u wardly throughthe insulating-washer d carried thereon, and through the cover-plate Aand msuatin -sheet (1. below the same, and on the top 0 which arebinding-nuts d, secured on the upper end of said conductor ada ted tosecure a conductor-wire thereto n t e usual manner. If thecell orreceptacle 1s constructed of copper or other conducting metal, thenegative conductor may be attached directly to said cover or to any portion of the receptacle, as shown in Fig. 1..

The electrolyte maybe of any suitable kind. If the positive-poleelem'ent contains silver, nickel, and. mercury or either silver ornickel, the electrolyte may be a solution of caustic alkali, suchas'hydr'ate of soda or potassium holding a portionof oxid of zincor ofcadmium. This is poured into the cell or jar through a filhng-pi 'e a inthe cover which, as shown, is provide with a screw-cap a in the usualmanner.

The operation is as follows: The zinc or cad'mlum oxid accumulates uponand adheres to the wire-net at the bottom of the cell below thepositive-pole element and completes the negative-pole element. Whencadmium 1s used in the form of, an oxid, it does not dissolve in theelectrolyte, hence is not displaced from the wire-net."

Obviously many variations inthe construction and arrangements of artsmay be made without departing fromt e principles ofiny invention. Itherefore do not, purpose limitby the prior art. a

I. claim as my invention.

ing this invention otherwise than necessitated 1'. In anaccumulator-cell, a po'sitiveole element comprising outer retaining-wals'of conductin material, spacin -bars the'rebetween, a s eet of fabricon t e inner face of thelower wall, binding-stripssecured around theedges of the Wall'sv and material to become active carried betweensaidwalls, there being ment comprising apertured plates, space-barstherebetween having aperturesthere'through transversely of the elementand registering with apertures in said plates for the free circulationof the electrolyte and binding-strips rigidly engaged about themarginspfsaid plates and binding the same together. 7o

3. In an accumulator-cell, .horizontally disposed apertured plateshaving sponge metaltherebetween, space bars between said plates, a layerof fabric betweenone of, said plates and the s onge metal, and wire-netih the bottom of t e cell, there being apertures through said lates andspace-bars for the passage e ectmlyt Without o abfiwith, the p gemetal.'-

41 Anaccumulatorcell,"of,conductin Ina- 8o terial, areticulated sheetinthe b'ottomt ere I of, rabbeted insulating-strips thereon and apositive-pole element seated, sai d' strips comprising an upper and alower perforated sheet and tablets of material become active engagedbetween said sheets, sa id elzement having large apertures extendingtherethrou h for the passa e otthe electrolyte out o contact with saitablets.

5. An accumulator cell of conducting mao terial,wire-net ontlie bottomthereof in'sulat in -stri s on said wire-net, and'ad'acent the si es 0the cell and a positive po e' lement seated thereon compri sm aperturedplates,

Siam-bars between's'aid'p atesbindingfstrips out the margin'ofthe platesand, mater al to become active carriedbetween said, plates,

there being relativelfyilarg'eapertures througli the element 'for the eepassa e of the el'ec trolyte without contact with sald materialf rod 6.In a secondary-battery cell, sheets" of wire-netting in the bottom ofthe cell, ah or i zontal element supported above t esame comprisin lowers eets, one fa ric of fibrous material, t e other ofp'erforate inetal'atithe bottom of the same, compressed s ongem tal slfllpportd thereon,a sheet of erforated metal, a ording the top of; the e ement, s Iacnggfbars filling the ends and sides of said e eme rivets engaging jsaidsheets and bars to ether 1 i0 and a conductor connected toftheelenierit.

In testimony whereof have hereunto S11 7 scribing witnesses;

ae W-

